which broadband? advice please!

cjm

hi all,

i'm a student in dublin and i've been looking into getting broadband into my flat. i've a few questions for someone who might be able to help me:

- is netsource the only people to offer a rolling contract? everywhere else seem to be 12 month only.

- are certain ports blocked with most services? things like msn messenger, peer to peer stuff, ftp sites etc?

- how are the 4gb / 8gb caps done? if you go over them do you have to pay a fine or something?

i'll probably think of another few questions but i'd be greatful for any advice people can give. i'm thinking netsource looks like it's the best deal for me but maybe someone out there would tell me otherwise...

thanks,

c

machalla

As far as I know Netsource are the only ones with a rolling contract. They are also by far the most expensive of the BB providers as they not only charge you a monthly fee but also insist that you take at least one service off them costing at a minumum of €10 before VAT. My monthly bill arrived this morning and it was €66.55 inc Vat.

I don't think ports are blocked by your ISP (that I'm aware of). Usually your router will do this and you have to enable the particular ports yourself on the router/firewall.

Regarding Caps I think Eircom charge you an extra amount per mb you are over the cap. Its on their website. Esat also do the same but I don't think they are too diligent about it. Only enforcing it when you are really going way over their cap. Not sure about the rest. I think UTV reserve the right to charge you if you go way over the 8Gb cap they have.

Netsource while claiming to be uncapped are not in practice an unlimited service (despite what is claimed). If you go over a certain unspecified limit they will either throttle your bandwidth down to 23k from 50k
or as has been happening more usually they will put you and all the other high downloaders in the same link and let you all fight it out for bandwidth. They also don't inform you of this fact it seems. So be wary.

It also depends on what you want broadband for. Eircom "seem" to be the best for gaming (pings are consistent with them) but with a 4gb limit for downloads you are limited that way. I believe ESAT and UTV are also reasonably ok for gaming but others here can give you more info on this. Netsource are not good for gaming as their pings are usually very poor around the times most people are online (evenings, nighttime). They will jump from daytime rates of about 30ms to 200ms and more later in the evening.

For downloading they are generally fine though. Just watch out for caps and being throttled unexpectedly.

At this point it may be better considering UTV, Eircom or Iol as they are all doing an offer at the moment of a free install, free modem and the cheapest of them is €47.50 (if I have the right figure for UTVs offering).

So over 12 months Netsource will cost you

Approx €90 for self-install option.
Pay anywhere between €80-160 for a modem.
12 months @ €66.55 = €798.60
Total is approx €1048.60 (at max modem price of 160).

Eircom, IOL, UTV for 12 months will work out at
No install Fee
Free modem
12 months @ €47.50 = €570.6
Total is approx €570.6

So even though you might lose out on a few months during the summer you still pay almost half of what you with Netsource depending on modem costs.

If I was looking at the numbers I'd forget about Netsource now. UTV apparently have a good customer focus and the cheapest prices for broadband plus 8Gb cap. If I was getting BB now I would go with them.

All the above is just my opinion though so don't take it as gospel. Good luck with who you choose.

cjm

thanks a mill. that's very helpful. i'll give utv a ring and see how they sound.

machalla

No problem. Ask around on the boards and see what other people think. I have Netsource SOHO so I can speak from experience of this. The other BB Providers I can only talk about second hand from what I've heard here and elsewhere.

Perhaps some of the others on here can give their opinions on which BB providers are worth looking at?

eirebhoy

The cheapest broadband in Ireland at the moment is IBB. The Ripwave is €30 per month and the Breeze is €35 and both of them have no download cap. It has bad pings so I wouldn't get it if you are a gamer but it is generally good for downloads. I think it is only available in limited area's but you can give them a call and find out.

Also if you have a laptop you can actually put batteries in your ripwave product and use broadband while your out and about or you can plug it into a wall in your office or whatever.

machalla

I forgot all about wireless. Best value BB in the country. You don't need a phone line for it either so you save on line rental from Eircom (which isn't cheap).

Shame its in so few areas yet though.

Dustaz

nah, ntl is the best value bb in the country but its just not available in enough areas.

cjm

thanks guys. i dount wireless is an option for me. i'm living on the ground floor of an apartment block and line of sight is bound to be out of the question completely. could be worth a phonecall though. their coverage map seems a bit vague, i'm on pearse street and they seem to have a spot on merrion square so never know it could be what i'm looking for.

UbahOne

IOL BB is simply the best in my opinion...truly excellent service.

Stormfox1020

also take into account that IOLBB now have extended their cap to 8GB for E50 a month so thats twice as better as eircom and u get same pings.

PaulMagrath

on port blocking: I'm on IOLBB and IOL seems to have blocked the standard ping ports. This does not however effect either your's or your ability to see other's pings in games. (It's weird I know - there is another thread around here somewhere about it). There is no problem with MSN Messenger, ICQ, Kazaa Lite, Trillian, etc however.

In games, pings are reasonable and I have had no major problems with IOLBB and would full heartedly recommend them to you if it wasn't for the fact that you specifically mention that you need a rolling contract whereas IOL's is 12 monthly.

Cost is about €49.49 a month, modem is free (USB though) and I think they have a free installation offer running currently. It is I believe the only service with a 8GB cap. They reserve the right to charge if one goes over that limit but I am unsure whether they actually do or not,

Valentia

t is I believe the only service with a 8GB cap

UTV's cap is 8Gig. This, unlike IOL is download only. IOL's cap includes uploads.

PaulMagrath

Originally posted by Valentia
UTV's cap is 8Gig. This, unlike IOL is download only. IOL's cap includes uploads.

Hmmm and now that I check it UTV is cheaper if you go over the cap (1.5c vs 3c).

You have to switch to UTV's phone service at the same time if you want to use their broadband service though I think.

dahamsta

Originally posted by PaulMagrath
You have to switch to UTV's phone service at the same time if you want to use their broadband service though I think.

How bad.

Valentia

Originally posted by dahamsta
How bad. [/QUOTE

Dead right dah & 25% cheaper. What a pain!

machalla

Indeed.

Just found out that UTV are doing a 3 month rolling contract.

I'm going to move over to them from Netsource if at all possible.

MrPinK

Originally posted by Valentia
Dead right dah & 25% cheaper. What a pain!

It doesn't matter if they are cheaper, it's still not a good thing that the telephone package is compulsory. Some other company many come along an lower call costs even more that UTV, but you wouldn't be able to move to them without giving up your broadband.

Just found out that UTV are doing a 3 month rolling contract

Did UTV tell you that? Their terms & conditions page still says the minimum period is 12 months.

Valentia

It doesn't matter if they are cheaper

You're right! I joined them because, in my very humble experience, they are de best.